ConferenceGiovanni Agresti (Bordeaux Montaigne University)

Linguistic rights and linguistic social development in the service of the integration of the Roma. The Italian case

December 13, 2022, 4:30 p.m.-6:30 p.m., Salle Jean Borde, MSH Bx

Horizon MSH (Axis 2 “ Inclusive societies ”)

The Italian model of linguistic rights is based on one of the fundamental principles of the 1948 Constitution: “The Republic protects linguistic minorities through specific norms” (art. 6). This remarkable de jure of linguistic minorities (historical, namely former settlements on Italian soil), is explained by the fact that the Italian Constitution is openly anti-fascist and must, among other things, implement real reparation history towards the country's ethnic minority communities, stigmatized and persecuted during Mussolini's regime.

That said, in the application of this constitutional principle there is no shortage of contradictions. First of all, art. 6 was only translated into law more than half a century later, with the entry into force of Law No. 482 of 1999 (“Standards for the Protection of Historical Linguistic Minorities”). Then, not all of Italy's historical linguistic minorities have benefited from this law, which only recognizes twelve “territorial” minority linguistic communities. The Roma are still excluded today, they are literally outside the law, even though they suffered – along with Jews, homosexuals and dissident intellectuals – the most serious consequences of the racist policies of the fascist regime.

In this conference we will try to reconstruct this history of non-recognition of the Roma, to explain the reasons, while showing the contributions of the linguistics of social development in the attempts to break the impasse and establish a pact of legality between public institutions (State, regions) and the Romani linguistic community of Italy. The road is still very long. Nevertheless, some considerable progress can give rise to some optimism.


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